More eBay strangeness

[spinynorman]

Sold a "project" bass on eBay. TBH I wasn't watching the bidding very carefully, but the leading bidder looked ok. At the end, however, the winner has 2 out-of-date positives from 2009, so 0%. Then I get a message from him asking me to send it to a different address from the registered one (in the same town though) and the paypal payment comes from someone else's account. He says he's moved since he last used eBay and the paypal was done by "the Mrs". But her surname's different.

I emailed eBay asking if they can verify it's not a hacked account, but haven't had a reply yet. Don't really want to pull the plug if he's genuine, but it doesn't feel right to me and I don't want Paypal taking the money back in a months time. Any thoughts, am I being paranoid?

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

He has caused the issue, not you & you have a right to be cautious. Only release the bass when ebay/paypal has confirmed that it is OK.

Let him know that you're confirming with ebay and give all the reasons why. Apologise for the delay and thank him for his understanding - if he gets impatient or shirty, cancel the sale due to fishiness.

[gafbass02]

If it was the black fretless jazz I missed ending I'll buy it for ya

[lemmywinks]

I remember something about Paypal not covering you if you don't send it to the specified address on checkout so be careful.

[spinynorman]

He got shirty, so it's over. Reported invalid address to Ebay. Checked seller protection on Paypal, and you have to ship to the listed address.

It wasn't fretless.

[spinynorman]

Isn't eBay Trust 'n' Safety Dept wonderful?

I report a buyer with a registered address he hasn't lived at for several months, which is against their terms & conditions if nothing else. The email I get from them says "The first thing I recommend is for you to phone the buyer and talk to them about this in a friendly way. You can request the buyer's contact information here: "

Yes, but if he doesn't live at the address he has registered with you, how will getting his contact details help?

Where's the "banging head against wall" smiley?

This'll have to do

[Chris2112]

Ebay seem pretty poor at handling things in general but if you've got even the slightest suspicion abouit this guy (and quite rightly so) I'd pull the plug.

[spinynorman]

Another message from eBay T'n'S.

"Thank you for writing back to us regarding your buyer who claims that you've posted the guitar to a wrong address."

I can't work out eBay staff. Either they employ people with no comprehension skills, or they aren't people at all, but one of those "AI" programmes you used to get on Ataris in the early 1990s.

Maybe the idea is to drive all their sensible customers mad, so we won't be so bothered by the nutters.

[Mr. Foxen]

There is an instant messaging style help option on ebay, I didn't do a full Turing test on them, but they seemed like a person.

[Gust0o]

No, they use standard templates for their responses - you will not get a human response this side of writing to someone senior or causing a fuss.

They are absolutely awful. Criminally awful.

In fact, I'll post their MD the link to this article. Yet another example of how they can't get the basics right.

[neepheid]

[quote name='Gust0o' post='1010717' date='Nov 3 2010, 01:25 PM']No, they use standard templates for their responses - you will not get a human response this side of writing to someone senior or causing a fuss.

They are absolutely awful. Criminally awful.

In fact, I'll post their MD the link to this article. Yet another example of how they can't get the basics right.[/quote]

I couldn't even get their attention by reporting someone who was asking for Western Union payment while passing themselves off as a PowerSeller when they weren't. It seems they don't even care about fee avoidance which I thought would be a sure fire way of piquing their interest. Success rate in getting counterfeit basses taken down has gone way down also. Oh well.

[spinynorman]

At one time they were trying to drop the auction side altogether, as they had some "research" that showed people didn't like to wait for their tat and preferred fixed prices from "power sellers". I think they've backed off that a bit, but basically the strategy is to become the online equivalent of Pound Stretcher.

[Mr. Foxen]

If you are a power seller or otherwise business seller, you get loads better support than privates. My Dad does loads of business via ebay and sings their praises.